After months of public engagement and stakeholder work sessions, City staff and a planning and design consultant team from Olsson unveiled a proposed master plan for the Renew Jordan Creek effort downtown, at the June 1 City Council Lunch Workshop.
The Renew Jordan Creek effort intends to “daylight” portions of the creek and bring it to the surface, helping to reduce flooding and improve water quality. Renew Jordan Creek is also viewed as an opportunity to provide an outdoor urban amenity and serve as a catalyst for further redevelopment along the creek’s path through downtown Springfield.
The City previously identified the phase 1 or the primary project site, comprising two large blocks of the creek, bordered on the east by Boonville Avenue and Water Street on the south, Main Avenue on the west, and Mill Street on the north. The master plan seeks to envision a design concept unifying the primary site with possible future enhancements to nearby Founders Park and a newly acquired property located at 404 N. Jefferson Avenue (the former Meek’s Lumber Yard and facility).
Much of the master plan area is within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain within downtown Springfield, so revising the use of space is crucial to remediate flooding.
“Conceptually, the master plan is a ‘string of pearls’ along Jordan Creek and includes all of Jordan Valley Park,” explains Director of Quality of Place Initiatives Tim Rosenbury. “As visitors and residents explore the area, they will be drawn from one active place to another to enjoy amenities unique to each site, yet part of a whole experience.”
Community engagement for the Renew Jordan Creek Master Plan began in January with the launch of an interactive project website and city-wide visioning survey that collected more than 600 responses. Input from the public visioning round was utilized in late March in an intensive and highly collaborative concept design process involving a Renew Jordan Creek stakeholder team. The stakeholder team represents a diverse group of interests including downtown businesses, property owners, developers and agencies as well as technical experts in environmental, engineering and architectural design fields.
In April, the preliminary concepts developed by the stakeholder team were then taken to the community through a virtual open house gathering more than 120 comments. After further concept development by the stakeholders, the Olsson consultant team developed the proposed plan and site concept renderings.
Olsson will incorporate final feedback from the community into a final master plan document, anticipated by July. The City will then proceed to the engineering design phase for the primary project site with construction estimated to begin in late 2022. Improvements at Founders Park and the 404 N. Jefferson Avenue property will be further considered at a later date.
To learn more about the project and participate in upcoming engagement activities, visit renewjordancreek.com.